PK anesthesia cited in new Miller's 'Anesthesia'

#1 PONV authority, Dr. Christian Apel, says PK anesthesia is essentially a no PONV anesthetic in #1 anesthesia text book, Miller's Anesthesia, 7th ed.

Miller's 'Anesthesia' has been the standard textbook for anesthesiologists for the past 25 years. It is published in 2 volumes in hard cover and electronically.

The newest of the seven editions, published 2010, contains no chapters specifically dedicated to office-based anesthesia or cosmetic surgery.

However, Chapter 86, Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV), is written by the foremost internationally recognized expert in the field, Christian C. Apfel, M.D., PhD.

In 2004, Dr. Apfel distinguished himself from other anesthesiologists by succeeding in publishing on PONV in the New England Journal of Medicine, a highly academic journal for specialists in Internal Medicine.

The original 1993 PK anesthesia paper was cited in a chapter entitled 'Intravenous Nonopioid Anesthetics' in the previous (6th) edition of Miller's 'Anesthesia.'  

The current citation more thoroughly describes PK anesthesia as an essentially 'non-emetogenic' technique. The stellar PONV outcomes of PK anesthesia being favorably compared to work published by the prolific Paul White were also very gratifying. These  validations are all the more significant coming from an internationally recognized researcher of the stature of Dr. Apfel.

As residents around the country gain exposure to this chapter and this material, more of them may be inclined to try the readily accessible PK anesthesia paradigm on a wide variety of case types during their training. After graduation, office-based surgeons and their patients will be most grateful that they did.